The historic Indianapolis Speedrome is scheduled for an upgrade thanks to a pair of local businessmen.

Pete Watson and Jeff Hammel recently completed a purchase of the Kitley Avenue track from the Cohen family, and they vow to improve the facility, on and off the track.

On their list for the upcoming season: A more stringent inspection process of race cars and equipment, restroom upgrades and the first step toward repaving the track's surface.

"I think the thing needs some TLC to get it back to its glory days," Watson said Thursday.

The Speedrome opened in the early 1940s and has featured some of the sport's best drivers, including A.J. Foyt, Darrell Waltrip, Johnny Rutherford, Lloyd Ruby, Bobby Allison and Tony Stewart.

The new owners are race fans, but they don't profess to be racing experts — they've owned central Indiana restaurants for years. Thus, they've hired longtime IndyCar engineer and team manager Larry Curry as a managing partner, and he will lead the day-to-day activities.

In the year-long process of buying the track, Watson spoke with Indianapolis attorney Jim Voyles, a partner in the former 16th Street Speedway (former Bush Stadium). Voyles led him to Curry.

Curry attended last month's Performance Racing Industry trade show at the Indiana Convention Center to gain tips on a variety of track operation issues. He said he has also talked to Stewart, whom he worked with at Team Menard in winning IndyCar's 1997 championship. Stewart, the owner of Eldora Speedway, has made numerous changes to that historic track in western Ohio.

"The goal is very simple," Curry said. "We want to clean the place up so people will want to see good short-track racing.

"It's a big challenge, but I'm intrigued by it."

Curry said it's his goal to bring midget racing back to the Speedrome. Curry's youngest son, Dane, raced there in USAC's regional midget series in the late 1990s.

IndyCar's testing lineup

The IndyCar Series begins its preseason testing phase next week with five Chevrolet teams scheduled at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway. The confirmed sessions:

Former Indianapolis 500-winning chief mechanic Richard Buck was named Thursday as NASCAR's new Sprint Cup Series director, replacing John Darby, who remains managing director of competition. Buck, who worked for Team Penske from 1980-2000, won the 500 with Rick Mears, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi. ... All of RogerPenske's racing divisions are now to be known as Team Penske. Previously, everything outside the IndyCar program had been known as Penske Racing. The change was made for brand cohesiveness, a company spokesman said.